Echium boissieri Seeds | Boissier’s Viper’s-bugloss
LATIN NAME: Echium boissieri
COMMON NAME: Boissier’s Viper’s-bugloss
Plant Profile
Echium boissieri, commonly known as Boissier’s Viper’s-bugloss, is a perennial. Over time it grows an open, airy crown, reaching twenty metres or more. Full sun suits it best, with deep, fertile ground. Given room and time, it reaches roughly Twenty metres. During flowering it gives bees and other insects a dependable food source. Few species give back so generously for so little effort.
Science & Biotechnology
Within the Echium group, Echium boissieri is of continuing interest to researchers working on plant diversity, seed biology and the selection of improved garden forms. Boissiers echium has a real and growing place in the research. Breeders and collectors still work with it, so well-kept seed remains available.
Uses & Benefits
Boissier’s Viper’s-bugloss brings genuine presence to the garden and earns its keep across the growing season. Ecologically, Boissiers echium is a generous plant of the garden. Its tall, candle-like spikes of trumpet-shaped flowers are a magnet for bees and many insects, and its tall, bristly stems give a bold, vertical presence to dry garden and the border. It is a plant of dramatic, generous kind, and bees cannot resist it, and it returns gardens care with a great show, and its tall, blue-violet spikes last long into summer, drawing bees all the while. It takes hold quickly and asks for no special treatment from then on.
Viper’s bugloss is one of the finest honey plants in the world, and its seed oil is uniquely rich in stearidonic acid, a rare omega-3 studied as a plant-based alternative to fish oil.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Boissier’s Viper’s-bugloss under ordinary good conditions. Sow the seed evenly over the surface and cover lightly, using a loose, well-drained seed compost, and keep it just moist in full sun until the seedlings are well up. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
As a perennial, it settles into a routine quickly once established. Even moisture while the seed is chitting is the main thing; afterwards it largely looks after itself.
Related Reading
Readers interested in Boissier’s Viper’s-bugloss frequently explore these as well: